busta the leatherman

So here's how my brain works... I basically don't believe anyone unless I have known them for a significant amount of time, and then I know what to believe when it comes out their mouth. People are liars. It is part of the human condition. The other part of the human condition is for us to believe in liars. We lionize the people that boast. Christianity had to become a religion only after Jesus was merc'ked. Why? Because he would have slapped the shit out of you for not believing in GOD. That attitude inspired others to place him above GOD.

What's my point? Most of you kids have grown up listening to nothing but rap music all of your lives. You have let rapper lyrics inform you on everything from how to dress, what to say from your mouth, how to act in public and where to spend your money. Rappers have essentially curated your lifestyle. I find it amusing that some of you are surprised that T.I. would have cooperated with the authorities when he was arrested for possessing illegal firearms. That nigger is an actor you dumb bitches. He is not some poorly educated street dude who was destined to be in a penitentiary. T.I. comes from a background of private schools and hardworking parents who set him up to achieve.

The fact that he was able to assume the acting role of a hardened street thug is a compliment to his acting ability. The same as Jay-Z or NaS or anyone else who can delicately hold a microphone to their lips but acts like they spend their off hours putting fools in headlocks. Everyone except TrickTrick that is. The rest of these dudes, and I mean all of them, are actors. Fifty Cent and Ja Rule are both from the same acting class in Hollis Queens. Killer Mike, Andre3000 and Big Gipp can all represent Shakespeare as well as Donald Goines material. Ice Cube said 'Burn Hollywood' and he is as big a movie star as almost anyone who ever held a mic. Excluding Will Smith, of course.

So now T.I. sits in a courthouse and he describes the night his close friend was killed and some of you act like he is breaking a code of honor. You must be fucking kidding yourselves. Do you think any of you could have been arrested with the firearms that he had and still been under house arrest? All of us that aren't actors and movie stars would have been buried under a prison. Instead T.I. was allowed to sit around his home and continue to make YouTubes and record music and fuck bitches (I think, but don't quote me on that last one). This man wasn't going to cooling his heels in any jail like the rest of us regular dudes. This is the same treatment that other actors receive. One of the requirements of acting is that you are at least a dry snitch.

I want Busta Rhymes to come clean and take the stand for his deceased homey. No one fucks with Busta for his street credibilty. We fuck with Busta because he gets busy on tracks that make us want to shake our ass. He spits fire over music that has that bounce appeal. Not because he is some hardbody thug nigga telling us about the cold, cold streets. I wouldn't want to hear that spit from Busta anyhoo. He has made a career from being high energy. I'm not trying to put this man in a box, but that is the only thing he has done that has worked for him. Now that we all know that rappers are simply actors perpetrating facades of machismo or whatever it is time for them to start snitching. They don't have to tell the stories of ribaldry and amorality that they have participated in but they certainly need to speak on the situations that have caused the deaths of friends and fans.

It's time to put the deaths of Tupac, Notorious B.I.G., Big L, Israel Rodriguez, Jam Master Jay, Mac Dre, Johnny Cash, Stack Bundles and whoever else was acting while gangster rapping to closure. These people didn't deserve to die because of the form of entertainment they chose espouses death and destruction. Okay, maybe Notorious did.

More From XXL